


Dream Chaser

by bittenfeld



Category: Kamen Rider Kuuga
Genre: M/M, Male Slash, Pre-Slash, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:15:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29663010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bittenfeld/pseuds/bittenfeld
Summary: The first budding of a relationship between a happy-go-lucky adventurer and a serious police detective, who very quickly find themselves on the same side battling horrors that emerge to destroy the human race.  But in between battles are a few moments where they can find solace with each other...New Chapter 2:  Inspector Ichijō is ordered by his superior to find out more about Godai Yūsuke - is he a normal human who can transform into an Unidentified Life Form, as he seems to be... or is he a monster who can transform into a human...?
Relationships: Godai Yuusuke/Ichijou Kaoru
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

When he next opened his eyes, the sun had already passed its quarter-mark in the Nagano-shi summer sky. _It must be after ten o’clock_ , he considered. The battle with that – thing – that unearthly abomination – had occurred around two AM, at least that was when he had received the call over the radio comm-link last night. Which means he’d slept on this concrete eleventh-story rooftop for nearly eight hours.

Detective Ichijō Kaoru hadn’t lasted long in the fight, he’d been viciously brutalized then tossed like a shredded rag-doll into a pile of crates and rubble by that demonic spider-creature and knocked unconscious in less than five minutes. But not before seeing a warrior in red armor and gold-horned helmet arrive to match the monster blow for blow and slash for slash.

The first time he’d opened his eyes several hours before, the sun had just climbed over the peak of Mount Kusatsu-shirane to the east. And the only thing that had made his concrete bed comfortable was the shoulder of the man he’d awoken to find himself leaning against.

Now, hours later, he found himself still propped against his companion, the only difference being the supporting arm wrapped around his chest, and the man’s cheek resting against his head.

As Ichijō shifted slightly, the man behind him stirred as well.

“Oi, sleepy-head,” Godai Yūsuke greeted cheerfully, and Ichijō felt the man’s breath stir his hair. “Got your beauty-sleep, hunh?”

“Didn’t do any good though, did it?” the detective murmured drowsily, having no desire to move from his propped-up position against the body behind him.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Yūsuke considered, lifting his head to look out over the rooftop to the Nagano metropolis around them. “After a hot shower and change of clothes, we’ll both be our pretty and sweet-smelling selves once again.”

Blinking the groggy haze from his brain, Ichijō’s gaze swept over the previous night’s battle-ground, noting a few piles of ash scattered several meters away across the open concrete. “What happened to your friend?”

Yūsuke shrugged. “Eh, Kumo-san decided he had better things to do than sit around having tea with me.” He turned back, his breath tousling Ichijō’s hair again. “How do you feel?”

“Like I lost an argument with a bulldozer.” Ichijō groaned, his chest rising in a deep breath which a sharp cough cut short. “There’s hardly any part of me that doesn’t hurt.”

“Well, you just need to pick a better dancing partner next time,” the other man urged, his arm around the policeman’s body squeezing gently.

Sliding a hand to rest on top of Yūsuke’s, Ichijō questioned, “You didn’t move all night? You stayed like this the whole time with me?”

“Of course. I didn’t want to wake Sleeping Beauty.”

“And just how long are you planning to hold me?” Ichijō tried to make it a light comment.

But he felt the smile fade from the lips close to his hair, and the voice shifted in a quiet promise. “For as long as you need, aibō.”

At that, Ichijō turned his head an inch, just enough to glance up sidelong at the man behind him to ascertain the calm expression. “Aibō?” he echoed. Then turning back, he smiled casually. “You know, if people see us like this, they’re going to think we’re gay.”

Yūsuke lifted his head again to look out from their eleventh-story perch. “Well, only the birds and butterflies are going to see us up here,” he reminded. A slight pause before he added, “And I am gay.”

Again Ichijō shifted his head to see the other man still gazing out over the city-scape, the usual happy smile lighting his face. It was just a plain statement, not a come-on, and no begging for approval from the detective or checking for disapproval. Nor did Ichijō feel the need to give approval or disapproval, nor shift his position, nor move his hand from the hand beneath.

Instead he asked, “So, Dream-Chaser, tell me, what kind of dreams do you chase?”

Yūsuke grinned happily. “Oh, lots of kinds.”

“Riches? Power?”

“Naah, not that, I’ve got no interest in that. But Adventure. The Unknown. Mysteries. That kind of stuff, you know. It calls out to me.”

“Like running headlong into collapsing stone ruins just because some spirit voices call to you? Or transforming into an armored warrior to fight off monsters arising from Hell?”

“Of course!” –and there was a lilt even in the other man’s chuckle. “After all, what kid doesn’t dream of becoming a super-hero and saving the entire human race from some invading creeping terror? And think of all the secrets hidden in ancient temples and burial pyramids just waiting to be discovered and deciphered…!”

Ichijō grinned a tiny half-smile to himself. Godai Yūsuke was a kid – a kid in a man’s body. But then the smile mellowed. A kid who would rush headlong into danger not even thinking about the cost to himself because he felt that some mumbo-jumbo spirit had told him to save all of humanity. “Do you have any idea what we’re up against?” the detective chided mildly.

“Nope, not a clue,” Yūsuke admitted easily, with that same bright disarming smile. “But something had to be done, and I was the one who was told to do it. So – here I am.”

“What if there are more? What if those two weren’t the only ones? What if the next ones are stronger? More deadly?”

“Well, what if they are? I’ll fight them too. I told you, I won't let those things destroy people's happiness. Zettai ni. Absolutely. If I'm the only one who has a chance of standing up to them, then I'll do it gladly. No matter what.” A smile for the man leaning on his shoulder. “What about you, keiji-san? What will you do?”

Just a momentary pause – not of hesitancy or uncertainty, but of growing realization of the possible prophetic words spoken now, the possible enormity they could be facing, and who knew how soon – before Ichijō nodded slightly. “The same,” he had to acknowledge. Of course there was no other answer. If Nagano-shi, the city that he had sworn an oath to protect, was under attack, then he would fight too, regardless of the cost.

A kid. But a kid who had fought off and destroyed two demons from Hell that all the police fire-power couldn’t even scratch.

For a long silent recess they stayed there like that, alone, relaxing in a last momentary hiatus before the war began, cut off from the city hubbub eleven stories below. It felt good, the energy between them, and both of them hesitated to break it.

Until Ichijō’s empty stomach rudely interrupted the moment by gurgling its complaint. Only then did Ichijō finally signal a pat to the hand holding him. “Well,” he announced pragmatically. “You’re gay, and I’m hungry.” He smiled. “And I could use that hot shower.”

“You and me both,” the Dream-Chaser grinned, helping the other man stiffly to his feet. “C’mon, aibō. The monsters are just going to have to wait ‘til after breakfast.”

  
* * * * * _to be continued_ * * * * *


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspector Ichijō is ordered by his superior to find out more about Godai Yūsuke - is he a normal human who can transform into an Unidentified Life Form, as he seems to be... or is he a monster who can transform into a human...?

"Sooo, where do you want to go? Eddie’s Kitchen is the best – and they serve breakfast all day. Or Fujiki-an – that’s my sister’s favorite when she’s in town. Their seiro-mori soba is unbelievable! Or we could…”

“Sorry,” Ichijō interjected, limping a few steps in the direction of the roof-top access door before his wobbly legs managed to stabilize. “But I’ve got to get back to Headquarters right now and check in. I’ll shower there and change clothes, then grab something quick at the cafeteria.”

The sunny face pouted a moue. “Maa, and I thought I had at least earned a free breakfast for volunteering as your pillow all night.”

“My team is probably wondering what happened to me,” the detective reminded perfunctorily. “And the chief will want my report the instant I walk through the door.” He paused to withdraw a business card from his inner coat pocket and hand it to the other man. “But this evening when I get off work, I'll treat you to Midorikawa’s – if you’re free, that is…”

“Midorikawa’s? You can afford that on a policeman’s salary?” Yūsuke grinned in delight as he looked over the card. “I’ll be free,” he assured eagerly. “Even creepy freak monsters couldn’t keep me away.”

“I can’t promise what time, it might be pretty late.”

“Hey, for this, I can stay up past my usual bedtime.”

But as Yūsuke held the door open for Ichijō, the detective hesitated, looking about himself, taking one last look at the night’s battlefield with an expression of half-disbelief.

“That really happened, didn’t it? It wasn’t just a nightmare, was it?”

Yūsuke followed his gaze. “Yeah, aibō,” he agreed. “I think we’re in for a real ride this time.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“You say Unidentified Life Form Number 2 is human?” The police chief looked up from Ichijō’s report, brow furrowed in half-disbelief. “And yet he was strong enough to destroy two monsters that you couldn’t even stop with bullets?”

Taking a little breath, Ichijo tipped his head in a slight polite nod. “Yes, honbuchō. I know it seems hard to believe, but he’s a man. I saw him change into this armored form...”

“How do you know it wasn’t the other way around?” the chief interrupted. “That he’s a monster who can change into human form?”

“Well…” Ichijō stammer slightly, “it doesn’t seem so. I first saw him at the excavation. He was trying to run into the ruins, but I stopped him.”

“The ruins is where the monsters came from, right?”

“Umm, yes, that’s what we think… of course we’re still trying to piece together everything that happened… there’s still a lot of evidence to study…”

The older man, a head shorter than Ichijō, moved closer into his space, to gaze up at the younger man sharply. “Inspector. Did it ever occur to you that he might have come _out_ of the ruins before you arrived, and was trying to get back _in_?”

That drew a hesitation. No, he hadn’t considered that. It could be true. And yet, that jaunty boyish personality couldn’t possibly belong to some ghastly creature like the two demons they had fought. Ichijō tried to think of some rebuttal, some explanation. “He said he felt some energy drawing him to the ruins, he was seeing visions that were calling to him.” Then something occurred to his mind. “He, uh, showed me his business card. Sir, I don’t think a monster would have a business card… do you?”

“Well, probably not,” the chief acknowledged. “But we don’t really know do we? Maybe there are others like him roaming the city. So, what did his business card say?”

It had sounded silly when he had first read the card, it would sound silly now. “It said ‘Dream Chaser. Man of 1999 Skills’.”

At that, the chief did pull up a little, a tiny ironic half-smile ghosting his lips. “Dream Chaser? More like a crackpot. Seeing visions? hearing voices? Maybe instead we should be checking with the local sanitariums, see if anyone is missing a patient.”

Sir,” Ichijō insisted. “That man saved my life – twice. Two days ago when ULF-1 nearly dragged me out of the helicopter, then again last night, when both ULF-1 and ULF-3 nearly beat me to death. And he may be our only hope. As everyone at all the crime scenes have observed, our weapons are no more than pop-guns against these things. When he transformed, he was more powerful than the monsters.”

“And he transformed because of that belt found at the excavation site. A important piece of evidence that you just handed over to him.” The chief already knew that; he’d read it in Ichijō’s report from the day before.

And Ichijō understood that that little extra-procedural decision of his might very well put a crimp in his career. “I didn’t give it to him directly,” he offered justification. “I gave it to Sawatari-san from the Jonan University Archaeological Research Lab. I felt that having the symbols on the artifact deciphered as soon as possible might give us vital information. I had no idea that he would use it – or indeed that there was any power to be used.”

A little acknowledging nod of a balding head.

“But because of it,” Ichijō continued, “he saved numerous lives. He wants to fight those – whatever they are. He’s on our side.”

“Well,” the chief finally conceded, turning to go. “If that belt turned him into a super-hero, it might just turn him into something else next time. You say he’s a hero. I say he’s Unidentified Life Form-02 and a person of interest. You find out more about him, hmm?”

“Yes, of course, I understand,” Ichijō acknowledged with a respectful bow, as the chief left the room. But as he straightened, a sober realization welled up. Could Godai Yūsuke, the bubbly, dream-chasing kid who had sat up all night just to protect Ichijō’s sleep, be something dark and evil instead? The chief was right: they didn’t really know for sure.

* * * * *

“mmm!! oishiiii!!” the Dream Chaser mumbled his delight around a mouthful of White Sesame ohagi before digging into the sea bream grilled to perfection. “I haven’t had a meal this good since the last time I saw my sister. Y’know, she could have been a Cordon Bleu chef if she’d wanted to, but she’d rather care for the little kids at the day-school.”

Seated across from the table in the private room that he had reserved, Ichijō watched his guest carefully. Nothing about the man’s behavior suggested that he was anything other than what he seemed: a happy-go-lucky adventurer. Certainly not a blood-thirsty bone-crushing demon.

“You mentioned your sister before,” the inspector noted mildly. “Where is she? Does she live here in Nagano?”

“mm, no,” Yūsuke answered in-between slurps of Baked Salmon Fragrance miso. “Minori-chan lives in Tōkyō. She teaches little children at the Wakaba Nursery-school in Toshima-ku. I try to get down there at least once a month, and I visit the school when I’m there. The kids are always fascinated by my juggling. I juggle, did you know that?”

“No, I didn’t,” the policeman responded. Of course they had only met three days before, so there was very little they did know about each other. “Is that one of the 1999 skills mentioned on your business card?”

Yūsuke beamed. “Yep, that’s one of them.”

“You’ll have to tell me about the other 1998 some day.”

“I will,” Yūsuke promised.

The inspector’s brow creased. “So tell me, what do you do for a living? There can’t be that much income in dream-chasing. And _don’t_ tell me a grown healthy man is sponging off his sister.”

“Naa.” Yūsuke grinned. “Our parents weren’t bad off. Not rich, but not poor. They left us each a little stipend, enough to cover expenses. And sometimes I make a little anpan-money by helping out Sawatari-san at the lab.”

“Anpan-money?”

“Pocket change.”

Ichijō frowned. “You said the reason you showed up at the excavation site was to deliver Sawatari-san’s message about the warning symbols that she had deciphered.”

Yūsuke’s head bobbed. “Yes.”

“You’d never been there before?”

“Well, yes,” the man across the table responded easily – and a tiny sharp twinge shot through Ichijō’s solar plexus as his superior’s words of concern echoed in his mind.

His expression must have shown a split-second reaction, because blank curiosity crossed the other man’s face. “Why?” he queried. “You sound like that’s important. What is it?”

The detective just shook his head, and covered quickly. “Well, you said you’re fascinated by old temples and tombs and such. I just thought maybe you’d been there some other time.”

Yūsuke shrugged slightly. “Well, the site was only just discovered a little over a month ago. I went up there with Sawatari-san a couple of times when the excavation team was first checking it out.”

“And did you have a reaction then? Visions? Voices?”

“No. But of course, that was before the sarcophagus was opened.”

“You never went inside the structure?”

“Well, I tried to once,” – a little twinkle sparkled in Yūsuke’s eyes – “but a certain police inspector tripped me on the front steps and stopped me.”

Ichijō took the humorous chiding in stride. “Sorry,” he apologized, not the least apologetically. “But it’s a restricted investigation scene, and we couldn’t just have random civilians wandering around and disturbing the evidence.”

“Well, I guess that makes me part of your investigation now, since that – whatever it was, energy… spirits… voices – contacted me… Aah.” Sudden understanding lit Yūsuke’s face. “So that’s why you've treated me to the most expensive restaurant in town, and reserved this private room for the two of us: to soften me up for an interrogation.”

“No – ” Ichijō interrupted sharply. But the negation came out just a little too fast and abrupt to be convincing.

Yūsuke leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Look,” he assured. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know, keiji-san. I’ve got no secrets – not from you. Ask anything you want – oh, and by the way, your tonkatsu is getting cold.”

Godai Yūsuke was right, he’d been focused so much on getting the man to talk that he’d been ignoring his own dinner. He was usually a much more subtle interviewer. But the situation now was so serious, so close at hand, so… deadly, that it was interfering with his usual composure.

* * * * * _to be continued_ * * * * *


End file.
